All Whites' Dead End Road To Russia 2018

I know the World Cup should have team from all over the world but would NZ be up to the level played there? You really want a team loosing all  its matches with no chance of getting even a draw? If NZ deserves to be there then it should be able to beat a competitive team in order to prove that

So when do we find out about our play-off path? Will if it be CONMEBOL for the next two World Cups?.

My own three cents worth:

Guys aching over how "we wuz robbed cuz we didn't get a direct path from Oceania" need to grow up, really.  Yes it would be nice. No, it is not deserved. The bonus for the Pacific member-countries of Oceania is the flow of FIFA development money, not the automatic spot in the WC for the winner. 

The reason that it is not deserved is that the level of the OFC group is not good enough on average. I will argue that the level of CONCACAF is better on average than Oceania. The average level of Asia may not be higher than the average level in Oceania because Asia is a very large single group, but there are not enough places out of Asia for this to matter (their second round of AFC qualifiers represents teams that are on avergae better than Oceania). In short, just because New Zealand is a top team in the OFC doesn't entitle the whole OFC to have an automatic spot in the WC finals.

However, what I do agree wholeheartedly with, is the badly designed "Step 2" of the OFC qualifying path. A weak (OFC) confederation winner has a poor chance against the fourth (or whatever) team in CONCACAF or Asia. The reason is the same as above: relative difference between groups.

In an ideal, just, world there would be a playoff pool for various fourth-place getters (say 4th in Asia, 4th in CONCACAF, maybe the sixth CONMEBOL etc) where the OFC winner would compete against say 3 other teams for say two additional finals spots. That would be fair, and possibly attractive, if it was a round-robbin; but logistically it would be a problem to get all teams in one neutral place at the same time. What we have now instead is less fair, but logistically simpler.

Is this a joke?

Just play the final decider in Honiara - sure fudged us

I just don't think we deserve a direct path. We have to earn it. I also think its great to take on the big teams, it'll harden us up. Look how well australia did when they were last in Oceania, they earned there place in the AFC. 

Good simple argument. Not a world game otherwise.

I personally would prefer the World Cup to about the best teams in the World, not balanced confederation representation. Realistically, in the current qualifying format half a spot is what OFC deserves IMO. Gives us a chance in the years we are good enough to foot it with a mid-ranking team from another confederation. A full spot in the final stage of Asian qualifying would be a massive improvement but AFC wouldn't have a bar of it and I am skeptical as to whether FIFA would want to blur the confederations like that.

Is the World Cup a World event with not every part of the world represented?

But our football sux compared to everyone else. In hudson we trust lol

Yes, and we're there if we're good enough (Bahrain), and we're not if we aren't (Mexico).

Exactly. We have the opportunity to qualify; that makes it a global event. I bet there's much more global representation at the World Cup than any other sport's international tournament.

Maybe FIFA should introduce a full league of all 209 members. Home and away, each team plays 416 matches to decide the champions. If you played 2 rounds a week you could almost make it fit in every 4 years. #Blatterout #Troutmanin

For each individual sport? Don't think so.

Try athletics

In South Africa NZ earned the spot there and did it bloody well but look just the last plaoyff, 9-2 against Mexico, what would happen if we have had qualify? If the reserve side of Mexico beat us like that you would think teams like Argentina, Germany, Netherlands or even Ivory Coast or Ghana will beat us easily. We have to proove we are capable of be up to the teams that play on that level, and in 2014 we weren't, and that doesn't mean in 2010 we weren't either

Yea, imagine if we were at the World Cup and Germany beat us 7-1.... We wouldn't deserve to be there..... Oh wait.....

It was promised in 2003 but the All Whites in France put a stop to that.

What Prince Ali should of proposed is 8 groups of 5 teams, 12 spots for UEFA, 5 spots for CONMEBOL, 6 spots for CONCACAF, 8 for CAF, 8 for AFC and 1 spot for OFC.

Round three will have six teams playing in two groups at a home and away basis. Both winners will play each other on a final, which will be home and away too

Also, second round won't be home and away and it seems like the OFC Nations Cup will be played in some Island country again

At least if we stumble at OFC Nations Cup again we will still be in the running to qualify for the World Cup

NZ to play a team from Conmebol in the playoff

So... Qatar 2022 here we come!

Yup!   Oceania vs South America  and Asia against CONCACAF

So who was it last time....Uruguay from South America? From memory they played off against Jordan....they won the first leg at home 5-0 and then cruised to a draw in Jordan?????

We are so so far from competing against South American sides home and away.

I wonder what Hudson must be thinking. His big coaching carrots were Olympics, Confed Cup and WC in Russia. Looks like the best he can hope for is a Confed Cup. LOL the way things are at NZF not even that is a cert.

updated thread title. 

so is this another blatter knife or a toss of a coin.

Other way round.  They won 5-0 away then 0-0 at home (thought they weren't exactly trying)

Well thats us shafted, we have absolutely no chance of making the 2018 WC. 

unless the South American administration are dumb enough to field an ineligible player.

Bugger

Look, if you want to be the best you have to beat the best #lulz

Based on current FIFA rankings Uruguay are the 5th best CONMEBOL team - and they're ranked 13th in the world. It's going to be a really tough couple of matches for Fiji.

Best we can hope for is a good payout for the TV rights.

If we get that far it'll be interesting to see how Hudson's short-passing high-pressing game plan goes in an away leg against a team like Uruguay.

#alignment

Should have towed the OFC / Sepp Blatter line...